What's at stake immediately in Hong Kong is the vibrancy not just of local media but of the vast network of regional and international press operations based in the territory. Hong Kong has long been East Asia's English-language news media capital and more important the principal safe haven for professional, independent Chinese-language reporting about the internal political and economic affairs of the People's Republic. Readers in the vast Chinese Diaspora from Taiwan and Malaysia to British Columbia and California have depended on Hong Kong reporters and publications for decades. If this dynamic journalism culture disappears or is significantly eroded, it will have profound repercussions for all of Asia.
Equally important to the region's future is the inextricable relationship between the free flow of information and the strength of financial markets. Hong Kong's robust economy flourished in a climate of free expression that allowed for the rapid exchange of information necessary for the smooth functioning of the regional economy. Investors will still need Hong Kong's free press if they are to understand the dynamics of the changes that are underway in China and the rest of Asia. Without this continual supply of accurate, uncensored economic information, it is hard to imagine Hong Kong retaining its position as the region's premier financial marketplace.
Leaders of the international financial community have begun to particulate this concern. U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin raised the issue of press freedom during Tung's first official visit to Washington. In a private session with Tung, Rubin linked freedom of information to Hong Kong's continued financial health. "I think Hong Kong can remain and will remain a major market center, a major financial market center, as long as Hong Kong continues to have the free flow of information and the rule of law," Rubin told CNN following the closed-door meeting. "I think that's something that we can all be hopeful about but also have to watch very closely."
Hong Kong's new leaders contend such concerns are misplaced. And on the surface, little seems to have changed. After the smoke of fireworks and celebration cleared. Hong Kong businesses resumed their usual frenetic pace, and reporters for the former colony's 16 major daily newspapers continued to file their stories as they had before the handover. Even the most critical dailies have continued to publish without overt reprisals. "The government is functioning as normal," Tung said. "The financial market is moving. Demonstrations are continuing arguments everywhere. "What has changed is that Hong Kong is now a part of China. There is a sense of pride here that this has happened, and happened without a hitch."
